A growing number of surgical or medical procedures employ devices and kits that rely on inserting a device or tube through a sealed valve or apparatus. For example, catheters and guides are typically inserted through a sterile valve to introduce fluids, intraluminal devices and many other instruments into the body or into the lumen of a blood vessel. In fact, various surgical kits now include valves and devices to assist in the simultaneous, sterile insertion of multiple elements into vessels or elsewhere in the body. To operate properly, the valves must be capable of accepting different sized elements, be sufficiently pliable and/or elastic to maintain a seal during manipulation, and allow the user to effectively introduce and remove devices under sufficient control to avoid damage to vessels or other body tissue. However, pliable or flexible polymers tend to cause a degree of friction when an element is inserted or withdrawn into or through them. During medical or surgical procedures, this friction is undesirable and may lead to a lack of control and require forceful insertion or withdrawal. Some kits and procedures even require multiple guidewire and catheter exchange steps, for example, which exacerbates the insertion and withdrawal problems. The sealed or sealable valves used must also prevent the introduction of air into a blood vessel and/or contamination of body tissue during insertion and withdrawal. Because of these and other requirements, the safe insertion and withdrawal, as well as the related forces used to insert and withdraw, has become a problem with many devices and kits used today. To attempt to alleviate this problem, silicone oil is customarily used to externally lubricate the valves and devices. During a medical procedure, this lubricant can be wiped away or lose its effectiveness after even a single insertion and withdrawal action.
A high performance hemostasis valve has recently been described that can be sealed effectively to prevent leaks and contamination and which is capable of accepting various catheters having a variety of diameters (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,632,200). As described below, the inventors' improvements on this and many other devices, which in part addresses the friction problem during insertion and withdrawal noted above, includes a self-lubricating polymer composition that effectively allows elements to slide in and out of valves, other devices, tubes, or through tissue in a more controlled and easier manner. Accordingly, the use of the self-lubricating polymer compositions of the invention improves the performance and use of a variety of medical and surgical devices and kits. In addition, the polymer compositions can be used to improve basic catheter and tubing applications, or wherever one material slides over or across another material in a sealed or sealable device, valve, or gasket.